Amped Athens

AMPED ATHENS

Plug in and PLAY.

Presentation Link

Mock Up Website Link

Wouldn't it be cool if every concert you went to benefited a local, Athens based charity? And if you could win prizes for doing so? Welcome to Amped Athens. Where local charity and local music connect. 

What we Do:

We go out and ask Athens bands to feature Amped Athens as a part of their shows. We will have a particular charity lined up to receive contributions that night. We ask the band to donate any percentage of their pay, merchandise sales, and total revenue that night to the charity, while endorsing the cause to their fans. The idea is that fans will follow suit and donate, all while earning points simply for enjoying the show.

How it works for our bands:

Each band will earn a profile on our site when they choose to feature Amped Athens. When they play a show for an Amped Athens cause, they will earn points. Each point gets them closer to prizes like new equipment, trips, and concert tickets, as well as increased publicity through Amped Athens. The more points earned, the better the prizes. So get out and play, earn points and publicity, and support local charity- all in one step.

How it works for our Fans:

Download the app, get on our website, and connect with your Facebook profile. It is as easy as that. Amped Athens will scan your music tastes on Facebook and begin suggesting live shows for you to attend. When you go to a concert at a venue, bar, or theatre in Athens, there will be a QR code for you posted at the venue. Snap a photo and automatically earn points toward cool prizes- merchandise, music, tickets, etc.- all while enjoying live tunes in a great setting. The App also gives fans the ease and opportunity of donating to their favorite available cause with Paypal and secure payment methods.

Market Analysis:

From the survey taken 198 out of 200 people listen to music regularly. 99% We live in a town where music is all around us, all different genres as well, there is a little something for everyone to listen to.

How often do people listen to live music?

10% listen to live music 5 or more times a month

42% listen to live music 1-2 times a month

11% listen to live music 3-4 times a month

39% dont ever listen to live music

How do you hear about music events?

Facebook: 99: 50%

Venue Websites:53 27%

Posters:22 11%

Ticketing Websites:15 8%

Artist Websites:11 6%

Charities:

UGA heros and UGA miracle. 

In a town thriving with college students, the University and all student run organizations

Children's Miracle Network, Haiti, and Invisible Children

GA Theatre and Nuci's Space 

Will People Donate?

Out of the 63 people who went to a benefit show:

78% donated money

22% did not donate money

Technical Analysis:

Amped Athens will be powered by one main content provider: the Facebook Platform app (which will allow us to access their interests, basic information.) There will be three platforms for connecting with our service: a Facebook application, mobile application and traditional website.  

For instance, Facebook Platform allows seamless social connectivity over iPhone, Android and the Web. Through its News Feed, Requests and bookmarking features, whenever one of our users decides to attend a particular show or a band announces that they’ve booked a show at a certain venue, this information will be transmitted across all three platforms.  

    

As far as our traditional website is concerned, this will be a central location for listing shows, once again using the TuneWidget app, tabs to our respective social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr) and allowing users to sign up organically through a Connect with Facebook application. The most efficient method for conducting rankings will be through Athens-based website GoRankem’s custom ranking API which enables users to drag and drop individual interests from a general list into a personal one ranked from one to ten in importance.

Cost/Revenue:

Our initial costs include running the mobile app and running the website, which is estimated to be $30,500. We are looking to obtain grant money in order to get these platforms up and running with little cost. After that, our revenue can come through banner advertisements on the website and advertising on the app itself. Revenue can also be created by fundraising and philanthropy, including Amped Athens Festival, which proceeds will go towards furthing our cause. We are a 501c3 non-profit organization.


Thanks to New Media (NMIX2020) Group 10! It was awesome working on this project with all of you guys.

Galapagos Rift and Energy Synthesis

            In the journal listed below, the authors illustrate chemosynthetic symbiosis between bacteria and marine invertebrates, a scientific discovery that dates back to the early 1970s at the Galapagos Rift. Chemosynthetic activity occurs across the world, in many various marine habitats. The authors stress the fact that symbioses happens within a wide range of animal groups, and since the discover of chemosynthetic symbioses, samples have been found at sites such as cold seeps, shallow water sediments, coastal areas, and continental margins. The article focuses on diversity, displaying facts and hypotheses that support newfound traits of evolution in marine environments across the world.

            Originally, scientists assumed that organisms living at deep-sea hydrothermal vents received nutrients by way of organic compound intake through cell walls and micro-tentacles. After the discovery and study of Rifitia Pachyptila in 1971 at the Galapagos Rift, scientists began to see that a new form of energy synthesis was really occurring at these deep-sea vents, a synthesis referred to as chemosynthesis. Chemosynthesis is the synthesis of organic compounds from inorganic compounds such as CO2, using chemicals like hydrogen sulfide in lieu of light energy (photosynthesis).  Scientists soon discovered that many of the organisms living at deep-sea vents actually obtained nutrients through endosynthetic bacteria, a form of chemolithoautotrophy. These bacteria utilize reduced sulfur compounds from vents as electron donors., synthesizing organic compounds that can be passed to a host. The authors observe that this phenomenon occurs not only at deep-sea vents, but also in an array of habitats worldwide. They describe the incredible diversity of hosts, habitats, and symbionts, concluding that many genetic similarities and differences exist within the groups of chemosynthetic bacteria. Hosts and symbionts have adapted to each other, creating the possibility for genetic exchange between the partners. In general, environments are conducive to chemosynthetic behavior when the sulfide concentrations are high. By observing organisms with reduced digestive systems, scientists can trace host lineages. Many different lineages of bacteria can establish chemosynthetic symbioses. The discovery not only supports theories of evolution, but also changes the way scientists approach symbiotic behavior in organisms.

In observing the diversity of ocean habitats, scientists are able to relate hosts to symbionts, allowing for unlimited research and discovery related to energy-synthesizing organisms and deep-sea hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, wood falls, coastal sediments, and continental margins.

Hydrothermal vents are fissures in the ocean surface from which heated water issues. These vents are found along volcanic rifts and hot spots at the earths surface, and are a result of tectonic plate movement. These vent areas are productive in terms of sustaining life and providing for energy synthesis. Deep-sea vents and cold seeps often provide for symbiotic behavior between endosymbiotic bacteria and their hosts. Typically forming along active ridges, chemosynthetic environments allow for the conversion of carbon molecules (CO2) into organic compounds by way of oxidation. Chemosynthesis allows for sustained forms of life in deep and shallow parts of the marine environment. The discovery of this marine activity dates back to 1971 at the Galapagos Rift, where scientists took samples of tubeworms, revealing a sustained form of life that is not dependent on light energy. Autotrophs, organisms that assemble inorganic molecules into organic molecules by way of chemical reactions, exist because of the release of gases through hydrothermal vents and the chemical reactions of inorganic carbon with hydrogen sulfide. In general, vents in the ocean floor allow for not only the existence of life beneath the reach of the suns light, but also symbiotic patterns that further evolution and worldwide host-symbiont relationships. 

                                                                     -Yates Webb

Symbiotic Diversity in Marine Animals: The Art of Harnessing Chemosynthesis

Nicole Dubilier, Claudia Bergin, Christian Lott

Nature Reviews Microbiology

October 1, 2008

The Lodge

This summer I had the privilege to record a few songs in one of my favorite buildings in the world: the Lodge at Camp Deerhorn. All the tracks were done in one take. I used a usb microphone and a recording software on my computer. Here's a link to the songs. Hope you enjoy!

The Lodge, Yates Webb

The Death of the Professional

        "Many people in the U.S. and around the world lack the education and skills required to participate in the great new companies coming out of the software revolution... Qualified software engineers, managers, marketers and salespeople in Silicon Valley can rack up dozens of high-paying, high-upside job offers any time they want, while national unemployment and underemployment is sky high. This problem is even worse than it looks because many workers in existing industries will be stranded on the wrong side of software-based disruption and may never be able to work in their fields again. There's no way through this problem other than education, and we have a long way to go."
        -Marc Andreessen "Why Software is Eating the World"

        What do Farmville, Wells Fargo, the Amazon Kindle, iTunes, Netflix, and Skype all have in common? They are thiefs. Thiefs of industries. One decade ago, people were online. 50 million people used broadband Internet. Now that number is over 2 billion. Ten years from now, 5 billion people may have smart phones. In the words of Marc Andreessen, founder of the world's first web browser Mosaic, "software is eating the world." Or maybe in other words, the world is eating software.
        In 1995, Nintendo Systems delivered millions of N64 systems to American households. Moms and Dads wrote checks to pay for everyday meals, groceries, clothes, or services. People went to the bookstore to purchase a book. Or maybe the library to rent one. Record companies not only recorded music, but sold it. Blockbuster gave people hard copies of movies and expected them to return them three days later, or else suffer the detrimental "late fee." People paid telecom companies for the use of home phone services and, if they wanted to talk face to face with their buddy from San Francisco, could either fly across the country and meet up or record a video cassette, seal it in an envelope and let the postman deliver their video message.
        Now, Farmville and gaming sites are taking over the gaming world. Wells Fargo uses software to help users manage finances. The Amazon Kindle has replaced printed type with software. iTunes controls the music industry, along with other software music programs like Spotify and Pandora. Everyone uses Netflix. If they don't, then they probably don't watch many movies. Skype is the fastest growing telecommunications company in America. How does this new age of software affect the physical industries of which they have successfully usurped the thrones?
        Digital means more efficient. Computers will never replace humans. Computers can't create content. But computers can do one thing: render the "Professional" in existing industries obsolete. Software doesn't make the user a professional. Software is the professional. And when physical industry succumbs to the digital takeover, what will those Americans who lack skill and education in this new field do for a living? Jobs are disappearing with the widespread dominance of software. Where will new ones come from?

The Wooden Bar

The day was long. He had been sitting at the bar for only thirty minutes. Maybe forty-five. It was cold outside. It was fall. The day had been long. When she walked in he didn't notice, he was staring at the gold neon lights strung haplessly across the back of the cheap bar and the television screen mounted in the corner, which was turned off; and the bartender, whose shirt was just low enough to reveal the pink, lace, padded bra she wore to compensate for what the other bartenders didn't lack.
She sat on the other end of the long, wooden bar. The air outside had been crisp. It was refreshing, autumn. The barstool next to her was broken. She didn't mind. The girl working had been rubbing down the wooden bar with her towel, which looked and smelled as if its daily usage entailed washing her dog, cleaning up its piss, being sprayed with the stuff they use on wood that doesn't actually seem to make things cleaner, then finally being rubbed across that wooden bar at which she now sat.  
"Whisky sour."  
"Ma'am?"  
"Whisky sour, please."
"Hard of hearing in my left ear."  
She glared around at the bar stools and the mirrors on the wall and the dart board and the college girl wiping down the bar. Her coat was still on. So was her scarf.  
"There you go. Open up a tab?"  
"I was here last night. Card should still be behind the bar."  
She looked at the three behind the bar. Tall, Short, Busty. Old, Flat, Works too hard. She felt the need to figure them out. Every detail.  
"Can we turn that television on?"  
"I'll get you the clicker. How about that?"  
When she handed to him, he made sure to brush his hand against hers. Then he looked up at her and gave a smile and a nod, looked down and sighed, then drifted back into his bourbon after turning on news.

The Salvation Army Man, part 2

I was born in Selma, Alabama, 1953. At least, I grew up in Selma. Every day except Sunday we sat on the stoop; on Sunday we went to church. Church wasn’t nothing too exciting. Mama seemed to like it. I preferred sitting on the stoop with Granny B and old Max Bob. The walk to church was the worst part. Mama carried me on her back in a burlap sack till I was old ‘nuff to walk. Granny B sat in her rolling chair, my sister, Bee, pushed her. Sometimes my Mama’s sister would come along with us. Max Bob never came to church. He just sat on that stoop, looking over the rooftops at the A.M.E. bell towers that rose high above our little black neighborhood. Church, it was boring. The stoop, now it was as lively as a chicken coop come feedin’ time. As far as I was concerned, everything that ever happened in Selma, Alabama happened on my grandmama’s stoop.

Elvira Knights is her name. 63 West Road. Selma, Alabama. 1987. It wasn’t called “West Road” when I lived there. Come to think of it, I don’t think our street even had a name. But things were different now. I wasn’t in the Alabama I had known as a kid. I drove into town in my four-door, white, 1986 Cadillac Coupe de Ville with red leather seats and a fully adjustable fm radio. I took a right at the A &P, drove through what is now called historic Selma. Hopped on Citizen’s Parkway and headed north till the shiny black pavement turned into the gravel and dirt roads that my feet had come to know so well on those long Sunday morning walks to church so long ago. The magnolia leafs crunched under my feet as I stepped out of my Coupe de Ville. The house was different. The shingles on the roof were green. The wood paneled walls were painted white. Bang Bang. The door opened. I stood on one side of the screen, looking in at the house in which I had been raised. Mrs. Knights came to the door. 

Star Wars and Virtue Ethics

When Luke Skywalker crash-landed in the Degoba system after successfully escaping Hoth, he stumbled upon a unique creature. This creature, short and green, speaks with Luke about the great Jedi master Yoda. Luke learns that, despite the creature's appearance, he is actually speaking to Yoda. Yoda says to Luke, “This one a long time have I have watched. All his life, has he looked away to the future. To the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. What he was doing.” A virtue ethicist, a long time before and in a galaxy far away from that of Aristotle, Yoda knew that “the good” rests in the agent. He believed that any action should and will be governed by virtue, or in his realm the “Force.” For Yoda, the best moral guide appears in his advice to Skywalker, “Do or do not, there is no try.”  An action may be deemed “right” by the theory that its consequence determines its morality. An act, however, cannot be considered “good” unless it rests within the state of the agent; an agent who keeps his mind on where is is and what he is doing, and away from the horizon ahead of him. Luke eventually learned that, and saved the empire while he was at it...

If this song doesn't give you chills...

I have recently been listening to Derek Trucks, thanks to my good friend Chris Owns. Born and bred a prodigy guitarist, Trucks travels with his band playing slide guitar blues. He sings with his guitar. Trucks' wife, Susan Tedeschi, plays with him as well, demonstrating a powerful, resonating female voice. Both have been on stage with the Allman Brothers, Warren Haynes, and other staple musicians in the southern rock, blues genre. Enjoy, and be sure to stick around for his creamy jam at the end of the song... Midnight in Harlem.

The Weight

One of my all time favorite covers of this song...

Like this? You'll love this
... and this

Skinny Love.

I became a Bon Iver fan during the summer of 2010. I have Will Kocher to thank for that. “For Emma, Forever,” recorded with unsurpassed levels of courage and honesty, spoke for itself. Simple. The resonating copper strings on the steel acoustic guitar. The wailing falsetto. The gentle, strung out harmonies. Bon Iver created an unrivaled masterpiece during those long nights in Wisconsin, where the album was recorded. I’m not writing this post about Bon Iver’s musical innovation. Plenty of people can write about that. I’m interested in the nature of “covers” and whether or not they can speak truth through the original masterpiece on which they are based.

“Skinny Love,” for example, has recently gone viral through a 14 year old UK singer/pianist called Birdy. Her single of Bon Iver’s staple track has reached as high as 21 on the UK singles charts. On Youtube, a music video appeared on April 1, and has already reach over 432,000 views. The non-official video released in February of 2011 has over 1,000,000 views. Is Birdy’s success merited? Can she be called a “musician” when her only true single is a cover of one part of Bon Iver’s masterful album? I love her cover. It tingles my spine and sends bumps down my legs. But is it real? Is it genuine? It's hard to say. Certainly Birdy’s version required a great deal less courage and honesty than it took for Justin Vernon to travel to his father’s cabin in Wisconsin and record a deeply inspired album. He did it all by himself. I can’t wait to see Birdy do the same…

The Salvation Army Man

**Below is an excerpt from a short story I am in the process of finishing, inspired by the photograph below.

He came around in a starched white dress shirt and navy blue trousers every day except Sundays. Sometimes he’d walk right by without so much as a nod or a tip of the hat. Sometimes he’d stop and wave and force a little polite conversation. But, for me and my sister, whenever he crossed that threshold down the road- the part of the road where the shiny black pavement turns to cold, hard gravel and dirt- dressed in his Sunday’s best and carryin’ a brown paper sack under each of his hands, we knew he wasn’t jus gonna walk by. No, when he brought the sacks under his arms, we knew he’d be joinin’ us on the stoop.

He wore brown penny loafers, so worn there were three or fo holes in each sole. He was balding and kept a rusted can of Penelope’s Miracle Hair Wax in his left back pocket; always had to keep his hair smoothed back. He smoked a pack of Pall Malls a day. I remember the cigarettes ‘cause he always left the butts littered on the dirt yard in front of our stoop. The thing I truly remember most, even mo’ than the cigarettes and the wax cans and the penny loafers and the starched white shirts, were the gifts. Now, it wasn’t often he’d bring gifts, but bein’ in charge of the Salvation Army in town gives you the liberty and creative license to bring by a little trinket or toy or tool or who knows what every now and then. Those brown paper sacks under his arms would be filled to the point of burstin’ with pots and pans for Granny B, new curtains for Mama’s windows: we had fo windows. One on each of the fo walls of our little house. He’d bring wooden horses and action figures. He even brought a black rubber tire jus for me. He told me in his neighborhood, over on the other side of town where the pavement’s shiny and black and smooth, the kids all curl up inside the rubber tires and roll down the hill ‘till they hit a tree or fall out. Anything you can imagine and the Salvation Army man could bring it.

Now I’m gonna make a point in tellin’ y’all that it wasn’t no charity work he was doin’ back then neither. He didn’t bring no food. And he didn’t bring no clothes. Mama worked plenty hard to provide us with those sorts of things. She worked for the food and the clothes and the roof over our heads; the Salvation Army man brought the rest.

No Such Thing as a Free Tomato

            A few weeks ago, as I relaxed in my bedroom with my favorite issue of the Economist, I felt a sudden craving in my stomach for a Wendy’s Baconator hamburger and a chocolate frosty. Putting my nightly economics-based leisure time aside, I got in the car to get some food. Upon my arrival at the drive-thru window, I noticed a sign that read, “Wendy’s would like to inform you that tomatoes will only be available upon specific request, at a price of 25 cents. Thank you.” Hm. It seemed at the time that tomatoes had become a luxury, only available to those consumers willing to pay the big bucks of twenty-five cents for tomatoes on their burger. After some research, however, I discovered that the price change I perceived at that Wendy’s was not a matter of demand, but rather an outside effect on supply.

            In March of 2011, cold temperatures in Florida and Mexico ravaged crops, tomatoes in particular. Freezing winter weather knocked out nearly 70% of Florida’s tomato crop. In Mexico’s largest tomato producing state, in which over 75% of their crop is exported to the United States, over 70% of that crop was gone after the winter months. Crop wipeout leads to shortages; shortages lead to increase in price. And, wouldn’t you know it, increase in the price of tomatoes leads to me having to pay a single quarter extra for the simple joy of having tomato slices on my Baconator sandwich.

Whatever happened to Monty Python and British comedy?

Thoughts on Modern Dance

Expression through dance, a product of thousands of years of influence, has challenged the societal norms and embedded customs of particular traditions and heritages throughout history. Each new era of artistic development draws from influences of the movements that came before. By the late twentieth century, dance had reached a platform on which its pioneers aspired to both embrace rich traditions and tear down restricting expressionistic boundaries. Though dance has been passed down through the creative control of generations of trailblazers, one essential truth has always remained in tact: expression is a product of the human mind and its relentless devotion to the physical manifestation of authenticity. Alvin Ailey once said, “Dance should be given back to the people, because that is where it came from.” This philosophy exemplifies the ability of dance to give voice to the voiceless, power to the powerless, and genuine expression to those brave enough to grasp it. 

The most powerful aspects of dance can be understood by observing the dawn of human existence. On the spectrum of dance’s evolution, it is necessary to understand that humanity originated as a blank slate. The only characteristics that defined people were the human mind and the human body. Movement became the only form of externalizing emotion and intellect. This act of movement triggered new methods of expression, emerging as the origin of human influence. Communication through movement, reflected by even the smallest insects’ mating rituals, evolved into other forms of expression, including visual art, song, and rhythm. The art of movement quickly branched into various traditions, some relying on rhythm and music, others relying on technique, and some forms remaining fixed on the idea that any form of movement is a form of expression. As various cultures spread away from the African and Indian origins of dance, newfound societies and traditions became the standards by which dance would held.

Alvin Ailey, an American choreographer and activist who popularized modern dance in America, perceived dance as a gift of the people. Dance has progressed through the ages in conjunction with the majority voices of particular time periods. In early European Royal courts, dance emerged as a symbol of wealth, royalty, and superiority. Dance became codified as Louis XIV introduced drama, dance, music, and costumes into his court. As dancers began to practice forms of movement on a professional level, artistic pioneers of European culture began to utilize these gifted dancers. Ruling classes mandated the training and professional agendas of dancers, using dance as a diplomatic tool. Peter the Great aided in establishing the Imperial School of Ballet in St. Petersburg as a way to westernize Russia and display their influence and power to the rest of Europe. As European nations continued to adopt national ballet companies in the 18th and 19th centuries, strict techniques and methods were formed and practiced. The documentary Children of Theatre Street depicts the intensity of ballet methods in Europe. Children’s bodies, limbs, and movements were judged by a strict code, and the ones selected entered into demanding training and rehearsals, learning the styles and techniques of Jean Noverre’s early visions of ballet. The children appear almost as robots, learning the repetitions and positions necessary to maintain the tradition of European ballet.

Romantic ballet emerged in the 19th century as an expression of man’s struggle with nature, humanity’s fascination with exotic worlds, and the desire of humans to express limitless emotion. Giselle, a renowned romantic ballet, premiered in 1841 and portrays a shift toward ballerinas taking center stage, increasingly mystical illusions of flight, and technological stage advances that increased the mystery and emotion of the romantic era.

Post-classical ballet emerged in the 20th century as a new form of dance expression, attacking ballet’s passive conformity to technique and tradition. This style is portrayed by the post-classical ballet “Rite of Spring,” a ballet that emerged in conjunction with Fauvism and Cubism as a rejection of blind conformity to technique and tradition. “Rite of Spring” ignores gender roles and talent level, reflecting abstract characters and jagged rhythms that represent new forms of movement and true expression by way of personalized and abstract dance.

Neoclassical ballet surfaced as a product of George Balanchine’s ability to strip away classical ballet’s outdated luggage, leaving only the dancers and their free expression through classic technique. His work, defined by the iconic neo-classical ballet “Apollo,” represents his efforts to express both the technicality and power of his dancers. He choreographed stark movements, hip thrusts, and fall and recovery techniques into dance, while popularizing ballet in America as an exciting expression of the people.

Modern dance emerged in the mid 20th century, described as a new revolution of identity, unity and defiance. Dance became a voice for the voiceless during the era of expression, becoming accessible to people worldwide. A pioneer of this movement, Alvin Ailey turned dance upside down, transforming its historical nature as an expression of the elite ruling classes into a new, free spirited form of art that stems from the spite and emotional drive of the minority. Ailey became famous for his choreography in “Revelations,” which blended techniques and formed new versions of movement on stage. Rather than specifically training his dancers, he challenged them to dance with personal style, creativity, and individualism. Modern dance became available to every person who wanted to participate in dance: whether that participation was through dance, choreography, or simply watching and appreciating movement and expression. Ailey brought a new voice to the table in Western dance culture, providing a foundation on which humanity can regard dance as a free form of expression rather than a constricted establishment of the elite classes.

When Alvin Ailey said, “Dance should be given back to the people, because that is where it came from,” he expressed a fundamental ideal that dance exists to drive the human mind, challenge complacencies, and express emotion. Spawning from the simple, raw act of movement, dance has evolved into a culturally influenced establishment that harnesses the power of the human mind. Classic traditions drive pioneers to build on dance establishments, while new innovations inspire groundbreaking rejections of restricting artistic norms. In essence, dance has always belonged to the people and has always been for the people. Ailey’s message encourages humanity to embrace this ancient tradition, illustrating a universal human devotion to the physical manifestation of authentic expression.

Cohen's Isle of the Wight.

The Isle of the Wight was a festival held in late August of 1970. The festival is argued by many to have been the largest musical festival of its time, bigger than Woodstock in terms of Attendance. 1970 was an important year for the festival, particularly in regards to the weather, the fact that the festival was held a year after Woodstock, and the notion that the festival would not be held again at that location for over 30 years after 1970.  The wind blew across the island for most days of the 1970 festival, carrying the sound across the audience and away from the listener’s ears. Transportation to the island was unorganized and semi-disastrous considering that 500,000 people were trying to get to an island on which only 100,000 people lived.  Due to political and logistical problems, the festial was proclaimed “free” due to its failure to turn a profit. Artists like Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Lighthouse, Procol Harum, The Who, The Doors, Kris Kristofferson, and of course Leonard Cohen all played sets at some point during the 4 day festival.

            Leonard Cohen, backed by his band The Army, performed an incredibly well received set on the final night of the concert, following the performances of Jimi Hendrix and John Baez. Suzanne’s recording can be found on the film “Message of Love.” The rest of the set is found on his album “Live at the Isle of Wight 1970.”

Corny

Corn production in America experienced heavy regulations by the government between the time of the New Deal and the policy changes promoted by Agricultural Commissioner Earl Butz in 1973. The government protected and regulated supply of agriculture through the use of price floors that guaranteed “fair” prices for corn. Excess corn was stored in reserves as a way to deal with “overproduction.” In 1973, Agricultural Commissioner Earl Butz changed the American economy for food production drastically, implementing a system that essentially told farmers to produce as much as they could, allowing the “free market” to determine prices.

Before 1973, American agriculture was strongly centered on small and medium sized family farms. The government invested in subsidy programs that regulated how much and where farmers could grow their crops. Thus, farmers were taken care of by the government, encouraged by price floors to produce and sell, but only within the constraints that the government allowed them to produce at. Essentially, every farmer produced and sold the same product in the same way.

After 1973, the agricultural industry became cut throat. If a farmer could buy out his neighbor, he would because it would be economically beneficial. Butz saw overproduction as a positive factor for the economy. The increase in corn production after 1973 led to the decline and near extinction of the family farm. Corporations began to run farms, producing as much as possible and attempting to always sell at free market equilibrium price. By 1996, the Freedom to Farm act stated that all price floors would be removed permanently, allowing “farmers” to produce without government intervention. It didn’t work. Prices collapsed and the government had to step back into agriculture, bailing out thousands of farms across the country.

The agricultural economy in America has experienced many twists and turns in regards to government regulation and intervention. The concept of Price Control will always be topically relevant when discussing American farming due to the fact that farming can simply not operate efficiently in the free market system without price control by the government. After 1973, corn production in America rose so drastically, new ways of sweetening food adapted to the use of corn. Nearly everything in the supermarket today contains some trace of corn due to its massive overproduction within the last forty years. However, lack of government price control failed to protect the farmers and the price of corn. Price eventually dropped too low that corporate farming companies began to control farmers, the ones who were actually producing the crop. In the end, price control by the government protects the mutually beneficial transactions between farmers and consumers.

Jokes

What's brown and sticky? A stick.
What's black and thrashes around? A garbage bag on the ground in the wind.
Whats the similarity between a mole and an eagle? They both live underground. Except for the eagle.
How many jews does it take to screw in a light bulb? Two. One to screw the light bulb in and one to hold the ladder in a safe and proper fashion, securing the safety of the jew on the ladder.
What did one lawyer say to the other lawyer? We are both lawyers.
What's blue and smells like red paint? Blue paint.

The History of Hiking... don't be offended

Imagine yourself in a forest. Tall oaks tower above. Your feet scruff along the rocky mountain path and your ankles brush against the ferns and wildflowers. You hoist your Mountain Hardware brand backpack high upon your shoulders as you wipe away the beads of sweat that drip slowly over your tie-dyed bandanna and onto your scruff-covered cheek. Your grateful dead concert tee compliments your heady wool socks and leather high top boots in the same way that your trippy blue and green glass bowl compliments your existentialist attitude towards life. You pause and think to yourself, “Why are we here? What is the purpose of this life?” This is a question that cannot be answered by the simple act of inquisition, but rather by the illuminating act of exploration and discovery. In a world in which we don’t have any answers, hiking acts as the vessel through which we explore our doubts and uncover unparalleled truths and epiphanies.

The progressive act of hiking spawned when the apes crawled down from the trees in Africa, and has progressed through the centuries, evolving into a form of expression that can captivate the mind and stimulate the soul. Though originally created in the subconscious minds of early humanoids when we first learned to stand of two legs, the discovery of hiking is often credited to Ralph Waldo Emerson. In more recent years, the credit has shifted to Jim James, singer-songwriter-guitarist of Kentucky based rock band, My Morning Jacket. Though the movement has seen glimpses of popularity throughout history, such as King Arthur’s quest for the Holy Grail and Johnny Appleseed’s hikes through the Appalachians and Midwest during the early 19^th century, its most profound impact began in the 20^th century and continues through present day. Originally modernized by Emerson and Thoreau during the transcendentalist movement of the late 1800s, Hiking was carried through the 20^th century by boy scouts and really queer dudes who would rather look at ducks and waterfalls than hold a productive job for society. Hiking saw an impressive rise in popularity during the 1940s in Eastern Central Europe. Not only did the holocaust bring hiking to main stage popularity during the ‘40s, but it also propelled the hobby into a new, more intense version: Trekking (derived from the Afrikaan language, meaning a long, hard journey.) Jews hiked from conquered eastern European countries toward freedom in the West, and as a result, the hobby evolved into the more excruciating counterpart of trekking that we see today. Though shocking and heartbreaking for the Jewish race, the Holocaust proved to be one of the most influential stages in the history of hiking and trekking, in terms of growth and development of this unique and progressive form of expression.

Today, hiking proves to be one of the most sustained art forms to grace the lives of many grungy hippies and heady jam band fans. Hiking has influenced the lives of many people from many diverse groups. From tiger cubs and summer camp kids, to granola dorks and gdi queers, hiking has expanding the globe and weaved it’s way into American and global lifestyle. Different forms include Backpacking, Dog Hiking, Freehiking, Naked hiking, Hill Walking, Nordic Walking, Llama hiking, Scrambling, Waterfalling, and Day Hiking. All in all, hiking serves humanity as a form of expression that allows us to not only question the uncertainties we face in life, but also challenge the truths we seek to discover. So, I challenge you. I entreat you. I implore you. Go Hiking. Your soul will be happy you did.